The Watcher of the Mists

Book 3

When a strange and ancient ghost ship miraculously materialized in Magnimar’s Harbor, Captain Agnes Raddick asked the Sandpoint Heroes to investigate. While aboard the ancient Thassilonian vessel, now crewed by extraplanar xill pirates, the party crossed paths with their former companion Larissa, who revealed herself to be not entirely on their side— and now working for the Aspis Consortium!

A few weeks later, General Odinburge contacted the party about a letter found in what had been Xanesha’s lair. The letter implied that the Skinsaw Murders had been part of an even greater conspiracy, and that more trouble was brewing in the distant village of Turtleback Ferry. As that town was nominally under Magnimar’s protection, he asked the party to head there, report to Magnimar’s military contingent the Black Arrow Rangers, and investigate… particularly this mysterious Lucretia who signed the letter.

After a two-week overland journey, the heroes arrived in town. They learned that this Lucretia was a well-known entrepreneur who ran a floating casino calle The Paradise— or, at least he had until the boat caught fire and sank two weeks earlier. Lucretia had been assumed lost in the wreck. The party left the next day to report to the Black Arrows. While on the way to Fort Rannick, the party encountered the despicable Graul Family of ogrekin on the way, and rescued three Black Arrows that the Grauls had held captive.

The rescued rangers told a dreadful story: Two weeks ago, their stronghold of Fort Rannick had been attacked and taken by ogres of the Kreeg Clan! As far as they knew, they were the only remaining Black Arrows left alive. The party worked with the rangers to devise a bold and daring plan to re-capture the fort: sneak in, confront and kill Jaagrath Kreeg, the clan leader, and then hopefully use the corpse of their slain leader to convince the remaining ogres to flee.

The plan worked! During the ensuing battle, the party encountered the mysterious Lucretia— who revealed herself to be a lamia matriarch! After routing the ogres, the Sandpoint Heroes found a evidence that the rescued ranger Kaven Windstrike had been in an affair with Lucretia, and had ultimately betrayed the Black Arrows, allowing Lucretia and the Kreegs to attack the fort when most vulnerable. The party defeated Lucretia in combat.

After securing the fort, the party returned to Turtleback Ferry, but arrived only moments after a major flood had inundated the town. After driving off several monsters, including giant gars, a large aquatic snake, and a legendary sea monster known as Black Magga, the party went to check the status of the dam that held back the waters of the freshwater inland sea called the Storval Deep.

Arriving at the massive ancient dam called Skulls Crossing, the party found a large crew of ogres that were working to demolish it! A minor breach had been made, and McGregor quickly noted that a breach of this type would very likely lead to a total failure in a matter of weeks! The party dispatched the ogres, and also destroyed a clan of trolls that had taken up residence in the dam. They found the dam’s control room and repaired its magical sluice gates.

After fixing the dam, the party returned to Fort Rannick, and made plans with the Black Arrows to put an end to the threat from the Kreegs once and for all. The Sandpoint Heroes led a small strike team to Kreeg Clanhold on Hook Mountain, and raided the ogre stronghold. There, they found a few very disturbing things: The ogres had converted much of their clanhold to a massive weapons foundry, and were churning out spearheads, swords, and ogre hooks. Second, the ogres had captured dozens of humans as slaves for their iron mines (and for their rapacious lusts). Third, the ogres had been taken over by a trio of stone giants, who served the same mysterious Mokmourian as had Xanesha and Lucretia!

The party then confronted this stone giant leader, Barl Breakbones, who revealed himself to be a necromancer. In a hard-won fight, the Heroes of Sandpoint defeated Breakbones, his stone giant bodyguard, a stone giant zombie (his other bodyguard, who had displeased him), and the Kreeg’s priestess of Lamashtu. They recovered a large amount of loot— much of which had been Thassilonian in origin. The party also found a letter to Breakbones from Mokmourian, indicating that an invading army of giants was poised to attack Varisia come spring, and also that one of his agent was attempting to acquire an ancient artifact of power to aid the army: the Sword of Lust, one of the legendary Seven Blades of Conviction!

The Sandpoiont Heroes led the rescued human prisoners back to Fort Rannick, and then returned to Magnimar via riverboat from Turtleback Ferry, to warn General Odinburge about the imminent giant threat.